History maps

This section holds a short summary of the history of the area of present-day Cameroon, illustrated with maps, including historical maps of former countries and empires that included present-day Cameroon.

The earliest inhabitants of present-day Cameroon are probably the Bakas (Pygmies). They still inhabit the forests of the south and east provinces. Bantu speakers originating in the Cameroonian highlands are among the first groups to move out before other invaders. Around 1472 the coast of what is now Cameroon is explored by Fernão do Pó. He names the area Rio dos Camaroes. During the late 1770s and early 1800s, the Fulani, a pastoral Islamic people of the western Sahel, conquer most of what is now northern Cameroon, subjugating or displacing its largely non-Muslim inhabitants.

In the nineteenth century both Britain and France are interested in the area, but it is Germany that establishes in 1884 the protectorate of Cameroon, in 1896 converted into a German crown land. This map shows the boundaries of the protectorate, compared with later borders.

In World War I France and the United Kingdom invade Cameroon (1914). After the war, in 1919, Cameroon is divided into French Cameroons and British Cameroons. In 1922 French Cameroons becomes a League of Nations mandate, converted into a United Nations Trust Territory in 1946. France grants Cameroons internal self-government in 1957. This map shows Cameroon as part of the French colonial empire.

Cameroon becomes independent as the Republic of Cameroon in 1960 and in 1961 it unites with the southern part of British Cameroons (Southern Cameroons) as the Federal Republic of Cameroon. In 1972 the country is renamed United Republic of Cameroon.

Provinces 1972-1983

Old maps

This section holds copies of original general maps more than 70 years old.

Karte von Camerun, Meyers Konversationslexikon von 1888

Other maps

Ethnic groups of Cameroon

Cameroon's Adamawa Province with territories of its ethnic groups indicated

Cameroon's Centre Province with territories of its ethnic groups indicated

Cameroon's East Province with territories of its ethnic groups indicated

Cameroon's Extreme North Province with territories of its ethnic groups indicated

Cameroon's North Province with territories of its ethnic groups indicated

Cameroon's South Province with territories of its ethnic groups indicated

Cameroon's West Province with territories of its ethnic groups indicated

Satellite maps

Satellite map

Notes and references

General remarks:

The WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Atlas of the World is an organized and commented collection of geographical, political and historical maps available at Wikimedia Commons. The main page is therefore the portal to maps and cartography on Wikimedia. That page contains links to entries by country, continent and by topic as well as general notes and references.

Every entry has an introduction section in English. If other languages are native and/or official in an entity, introductions in other languages are added in separate sections. The text of the introduction(s) is based on the content of the Wikipedia encyclopedia. For sources of the introduction see therefore the Wikipedia entries linked to. The same goes for the texts in the history sections.

Historical maps are included in the continent, country and dependency entries.

The status of various entities is disputed. See the content for the entities concerned.

The maps of former countries that are more or less continued by a present-day country or had a territory included in only one or two countries are included in the atlas of the present-day country. For example the Ottoman Empire can be found in the Atlas of Turkey.